In the 1950s, many provincial leaders in Anhui felt the many limitations of Hefei and had the idea of ????moving the provincial capital to Wuhu, a city along the river with better conditions. In order to "cut off" this idea and allow Anhui leaders to build Hefei with peace of mind, in 1958, Chairman Mao took advantage of the opportunity of inspecting Anhui and inscribing the name of the newly established "Anhui University" to write a letter to the then Anhui Provincial Party Committee. Secretary Zeng Xisheng made it clear that he did not agree with moving the provincial capital to Wuhu! (This letter is now engraved on the wall behind the south gate of the Anhui University headquarters). The reason why Chairman Mao insisted on keeping the provincial capital in Hefei was mainly based on the following considerations: At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were banditry in many places south of the Yangtze River, and the southwest region had not yet been pacified. In addition, the Kuomintang Chiang Kai-shek group on the island of Taiwan had always been clamoring to counterattack the mainland. Anhui is located at a strategic point in the throat of the Yangtze River. Putting the provincial capital in a city on the edge of the Yangtze River has great strategic security risks. If strategic towns along the river like Wuhan and Nanjing are lost, the enemy will rely on the convenient transportation conditions of the Yangtze River to move along the river. It is very possible to capture two provincial capital cities in one day. Within a 300-kilometer radius around Hefei, there are mountainous areas to the east, south, and west, and plains to the north. In other words, if the army moves east, west, and south to set up assembly points, Hefei is the most ideal area. It is a hilly area that transitions from mountainous areas to plains. The terrain can buffer the enemy's attack, making it easy to launch counterattacks and prepare materials and personnel before advancing. Hefei exists as a military value. It is for this military purpose to locate provincial agencies and enterprises in Hefei, to concentrate resources from other places in Hefei, and to develop military basic enterprises in surrounding counties and cities. The entire province of Anhui is like A military flood discharge zone and military buffer zone. In a certain sense, Hefei's ability to become the capital of Anhui Province is mainly a product of "military politics" without much economic development considerations!
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The establishment of Anhui Province Later, the de facto provincial capital was in Anqing Prefecture (now a city). Calculating the history of Anqing, the first provincial capital of Anhui Province, as the provincial capital, it should start from the approval of Anhui's establishment of the province in July of the sixth year of Kangxi. However, because the Anhui Chief Envoy, who was still the provincial official who was guarding the territory at that time, was still stationed in Dagonfang, the former site of the Jiangnan Chief Envoy in the south of Jiangning City, Anqing City at this time could only be regarded as the temporary capital of Anhui Province at best.
To be honest, Hefei was chosen as the provincial capital for strategic reasons, because the domestic and international environment when New China was first founded was not as safe as it is now. The main reason is that Hefei, as a city along the river, might be hit in the event of a war. Sexy
Five reasons why Chairman Mao personally settled in Hefei, the provincial capital. As a great man of the generation, I still have to admire Chairman Mao’s strategy and long-term vision. At the time, Chairman Mao said “Hefei is a vibrant area and is more suitable” (Chairman Mao The original words) were not said casually, and there are reasons for this. According to the memoirs written by Chairman Mao’s defenders, Chairman Mao chose Hefei as the provincial capital of Anhui Province for the following five reasons:
1. Political aspects: Anhui has been located in the middle of China since ancient times. The Huaihe and Yangtze River divide Anhui into three parts, commonly known as northern Anhui, central Anhui and southern Anhui. Choosing between the central city of Jianghuai is conducive to governance, that is, "everyone can be taken care of" "(Chairman Mao's original words);
2. Economic aspect: In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Anhui's economy was also very average. During the Republic of China, the province lacked developed economic cities. Although Wuhu and Bengbu were relatively famous at the time, However, the economic aggregate is still far behind compared with other cities in the country, so it is more convenient to build a new provincial capital than to expand a city on the basis of a small city;
3. Military factors: Chairman Mao’s military thought It is still a part that everyone talks about so far. The choice of the provincial capital of Anhui Province has a lot to do with military considerations. Hefei is the "stronghold of Wu and Chu". During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan went north and Cao Cao went south. Hefei, the watershed between the north and the south of China, fought for decades. , Zhang Liao's battle against Xiaoyaojin is one of the famous chapters, and the subsequent Battle of Feishui is recognized as one of the "Top Ten Battles in the World" in world military history.
Speaking of the recent Battle of Crossing the River, the general headquarters was also in Hefei, where Liu, Deng, Chen, Su and Chen set up headquarters and launched a general offensive to liberate the whole of China;
4. Human factors: Hefei has countless famous people in the past. The key point is that Hefei is extremely inclusive. The celebrities from Hefei include all aspects of various historical periods. Compared with the scholars from southern Anhui and the heroes from northern Anhui, they are more comprehensive. For example, those who engage in politics include Bao Zheng, Li Hongzhang, those engaged in military affairs include Duan Qirui and Liu Mingchuan, and those engaged in science and technology include Yang Zhenning, etc.;
5. Geographical geometric factors: The East China region where Anhui is located has been the core economic area of ??China in all dynasties. Of course the Chairman has seen this. In order for Anhui's economy to develop independently, stably and healthily, it must have its own core city. Hefei is right here, surrounded by important cities in East and Central China such as Nanjing, Xuzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Wuhan. It will not deviate from the channel.
To sum up, I analyze that the reasons why Anhui’s candidate cities were not adopted at that time are as follows:
1. Bengbu: Under the influence of Xuzhou, it is located in a difficult and easy-to-attack area. On the plains and railway lines, and because its geographical location is too far north, the city was severely damaged by the war.
2. Wuhu: Located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, it is also difficult and easy to attack. Moreover, the waterway advantage that feudal society valued has gradually lost its superiority in modern society and degenerated into a weak point. Military and flood disasters have to be considered in modern society. The required aviation and information center requirements are difficult to meet. In addition, due to the influence of Jiangsu and Zhejiang culture, there is no cultural independence and representativeness. As the provincial capital, it cannot become a fulcrum with Nanjing in the east and Wuhan in the west, and it is easy to tilt towards Nanjing.
3. Anqing: The economic and military reasons are the same as Wuhu, and the economic strength was not among the top three in Anhui at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Due to geographical reasons, the city's capacity is very small, which is not conducive to large-scale construction. Although He has profound humanities, but for provinces like Anhui, he can only represent southern Anhui, and his ability to tolerate and control northern Anhui is poor. During the Battle of Xu and Beng during the Huaihai Campaign, Chiang Kai-shek said that if he was in Hefei, at least northern Anhui would not be invaded. After the Japanese army took control, the people in Anqing didn't know it yet. In addition, Chairman Mao's thoroughness in studying history is impressive, and he was very taboo about setting the provincial capital in Anqing, where the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was defeated.
4. Ma'anshan, Tongling: There is no need to elaborate on the above reasons. There is another point: mining cities are not suitable for provincial capitals.